Do I REALLY belong in AA?

[utopia]

I've just started going to AA meetings and I'm still trying to figure out if its for me. THe only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. do i want to stop??? i dont know. most of the time i do, sometimes i dont..

sometimes i drink and i can stop at one, sometimes i have a few, i dont drink every day and i dont always feel i cant stop at one. i usually stop at 2 or 3 drinks nowadays. i have gone on binges but not for several years. ive been in alanon for 2 years too. i have issues with food and obsessive compulsion sometimes but an aa member called me a dry drunk. sometimes i feel as if i will be heavily resented because i dont seem to be that dependent on alcohol. its just that it makes mne blue and clingy most of the time. in aa i get something though i dont get elsewhere, more understanding of alcoholism. is it possible for drinking to be a random issue and be worse later? cos it only does bad things 80% of the time, lol. iieee, confused.

[cooky]

Utopia,
The only person that can say you have a problem with drinking is you!As you said the only requiment to attend AA is a desire to quit drinking.Their are two kinds of AA meetings (a closed meeting,just for alcoholics) (a open meeting anyone can attend)

If you think you have a problem noone in AA should be telling you any different.Drinking could get worse later no way to really tell.It only does bad things 80% of the time.To me that's alot of percentage.What would it be like if you took that 80% and put it to something good.

If you think you got a problem you got a problem!Don't let anyone tell you any different!
I'll be thinking of you.

Bob

[CarolD]

Ditto Bob.

[Sugah]

it only does bad things 80% of the time

"I didn't get in trouble every time I drank, but every time I got in trouble, I was drinking."

You are the only one who can decide.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

[jpeace2]

Ditto Sugah.

I found myself here four months ago asking the same questions. I was a binge drinker mostly, could go for a couple weeks to a month without having a drink, never hid bottles in my closet or laundry baskets, never lost a job, although I remember calling out many times "sick" (i.e. hungover and miserable) the night after a binge, and like Sugah says...the stupid crap I did when i was drunk I would not have done sober.

What really did it for me was getting a copy of the Big Book and reading some of the stories in the back part. I found a couple that I could really relate to, and I saw my progression in some of the most severe, even though I wasn't there yet when I stopped......I did see where I could head and what I still had to lose if I didn't stop. I drank mainly with a mission, either to party all night long or to block out a bad day or something I didn't want to deal with.

The last night I drank four months ago, I knew I had a problem when I started out with a couple mixed drinks and ended up drinking 14 shots of rum because "the drinks weren't erasing my mind fast enough".......all I wanted to do was "take the edge off." It was the next day when I was home sick nursing a wicked hangover that I stumbled upon the pages of SR and realized, yes I do belong here.

[Rowan]

I'm learning more and more that alcoholism is a disease of perception. I don't have a problem with alcohol. If I did, I would be okay without drinking. But I'm not. I need the program, the steps, the fellowship, all of it. I drank because I wasn't okay with me - I hated myself! I drank, and the world was a better place to live in. For a little while, I had hope. I fight the program from time to time and wonder if I belong too, but that's the nature of the beast - as they say, alcoholism is the only disease that tells you that you don't have it. Everyone's story is different, and you don't need to compare your 'story' with others. Think about your feelings, think about why you drank, and how it felt afterwards. There is no need to 'prove' yourself to ANYBODY.
Anyway, that's just my two cents. Glad you found us
Rowan

[FriendofBill]

Keep going back til the clarity comes.

I know many a folks who entered AA thru the back doors of Al-Anon.

If nothing else, your getting a good education on the disease that will help your al anon program.

[Chabroso]

Originally Posted by utopia

sometimes i drink and i can stop at one, sometimes i have a few, i dont drink every day and i dont always feel i cant stop at one.
but an aa member called me a dry drunk. . in aa i get something though i dont get elsewhere, more understanding of alcoholism. is it possible for drinking to be a random issue and be worse later? cos it only does bad things 80% of the time, lol. iieee, confused.

Bad 80% of the time would be a good reason for me to stick around AA.

No AA member has the right to take the inventory of anyone else. It seems the one who told you that you were a dry drunk has a few issues of their own.

I too was not a daily drinker. It did get worse and the only reason I didn't drink daily was that I was too darn sick from the night before.

Keep going to AA.

[collinsmi]

Is drinking a problem now? Have you tried stopping on your own?

[Little Missy]

What I had to do was listen to the similarities not the differences!! First of all, they were all men and I was a woman. Then I didn't get thrown in jail or have DUI's. Didn't loose my job or my family.

But I wasn't happy. I had lost my self respect. AA has given me a new way to live my life. And for that, I will be forever grateful!!

Hope you find what you're looking for.
Missy

[Chy]

I was told to "fake it until you make it". I'm sure you've heard that one to. I also had to remember it was only going to work for me because I wanted it, sobriety, sanity, health, happiness. If you want what we have as they say.... but then some just aren't ready, and that's okay to.

[Music]

It's not what you drink, when you drink, what you drink, who you drink with, where you drink or how much you drink that counts. What does drinking do to you? What happens when you drink? If drinking bothers you, maybe you should consider not drinking. People in AA have opinions just like anyone else but yours is the only one that counts. If you think AA can help, just keep going and in time you'll either decide to keep going, or you'll go back out. Either way, you'll get the answer.